At the City Council Meeting held on July 12, 2022, Council Member Kim Nguyen asked for and received support for further discussion and future action to direct staff to explore incentivizing the filming industry in Garden Grove. In review of the City's existing Municipal Code chapter 8.80 on Regulation of Filming Activities, the City of Garden Grove has established regulations which govern filming activities. Under the provisions of the Municipal Code, parties interested in filming in Garden Grove are required to submit a permit application at least three days prior to the first day of proposed filming and must provide information regarding the nature of the filming activity, locations and addresses, number of personnel, contact information of the involved parties, hours and dates of operation, and equipment expected to be used for filming. Along with the application, interested parties are also required to submit proof of insurance and an application fee of $250 (only applies to commercial film applications). Upon submission, applications are reviewed by the City Manager or his/her designee and circulated to impacted City departments in order to ensure that the proposed filming activities do not unreasonably interfere with traffic/pedestrian movement, endanger public peace and quiet enjoyment of private property, or otherwise negatively impact public health and safety.

At present, all information related to the regulation of filming activities in Garden Grove is only available in the City’s Municipal Code. Whereas several cities have dedicated webpages that clearly outline their respective filming regulations, permit application requirements and associated fees, the City of Garden Grove currently does not have a centralized location where studios, production companies, or students can quickly and easily access similar information. Instead, any party interested in filming in Garden Grove is required to navigate the City’s webpage and filter through Building and Safety permits in search of the film permit application or municipal code. Thus, although the City of Garden Grove has established regulations for filming activities, they are difficult to locate and ultimately create barriers for parties interested in filming in the City.

In addition, cities interested in encouraging greater filming activities stand to gain from working with local film commissions to highlight city attractions. Specifically, City staff can work with the state film commission to prepare and send packages to studios’ lead location managers in order to market the City’s most significant attractions and locations. Although studios and production companies have the ultimate say in whether to film in a specific City, maintaining an active relationship with location managers as well as the film commission would not only increase the City’s visibility within the film community, but also lead to greater filming opportunities through increased awareness.

As a follow-up, City staff contacted Orange County Film Commissioner, Janice Arrington, who reinforced the importance of having a streamlined webpage and an ongoing relationship with the California Film Commission.  Thus, as Garden Grove looks to encourage greater filming opportunities in the City, focusing efforts on updating the permitting process, providing an easily navigable webpage, and highlighting Garden Grove’s greatest attractions in a centralized location would be greatly beneficial to the City.

It is recommended that the City Council:

1. Direct staff to develop a dedicated webpage on the City’s website with information on Garden Grove’s filming regulations, permit application requirements, associated fees and local attractions;

2. Direct staff to proactively collaborate with the state and county film commissions to develop relationships with location managers and market the City’s attractions;

3. Direct staff to review best practices for streamlining the City’s existing filming regulations and report back to City Council.

By:  Shawn Park, Sr. Administrative Analyst